Sunday Book Club: Favorite Occupations in Fiction

Happy Sunday y’all!! On Tuesday, I talked about some of my favorite books that feature teachers, a subject close to my heart as I am a teacher by degree. I’m always drawn to books that have a teacher as a main character – I guess because I can relate to so many of their experiences.

I also have a thing for cowboys… in fiction. In real life, I might swoon at the sight of one but I know I am not cut out for the cowboy scene. Mainly because I don’t like dirt or sweat or riding horses, and I’m terrified of cattle. These are all pretty much death knells for any future career aspirations I might have as a cowgirl haha!

Now a book with a teacher AND a cowboy? #bestillmynerdgirlheart

Ok. Now it’s your turn! What occupations do you gravitate toward in fiction? What are some of your fave books that feature them?

Carrie

Oh wow. I have never really thought about thus before. I would have to say……….. From looking at my books and discussing with my hubs…the ones that have no “occupation”. Nobles, Royalty, etc. Ya…hahahahaha!!! Where they are born into their role. Whether to rule or to manage family estate. I also enjoy the farm aspects in books though, because I get it…since I was raised in the country on a farm.

Marylin Furumasu

I’d say books about people working with special needs children, but I actually am very eclectic. I like all kinds of books. The only ones I would really not read are horror, and trashy books. I’m not really fond Amish stories or too frontier-ish, but I have read some and might again if it looks good.

Carrie

Connie Scruggs

I’m with Rachel Dixon, I like the ones who are independently wealthy 🙂
I also like to read about the wealthy posing as servants. (A Noble Masquerade was really great. Right now I’m reading Lady in the Mist, another good one).
And soldiers, especially Revolutionary and Civil Wars and WWI & II.

Carrie

I love historical fiction set in the American West and I find that my interest is captured when one of the protagonists is a farmer/rancher/homesteader or cowboy/cowgirl, a small town sheriff, a bounty hunter or a Pinkerton agent (so I adored books 2 & 3 of Margaret Brownley’s Undercover Ladies – where the heroine is the agent). But these professions in real life? Not so much.

Carrie

Marylin Furumasu

Andrea Stephens

Now, you’ve made me have to think. I like cowboys and teachers. I loved riding horses as a young woman. I, like you, am not cut out for cowboy lifestyle. I don’t really read a lot of suspense/thriller/murder stories. Those are hubbies favorite things to watch on tv so I get my fill there. Thanks to you I’ve been reading a lot more contemporary stuff. Wait, I recall reading a regency type book where it actually got into why there was a “season” it was when the lawmakers were in session and decisions were being made. That provided a different aspect to all the balls and dinners. I can’t remember which book it was. I think I like all different kinds of occupations in my books. I do like some gritty frontier stories, sometimes to remind me to be thankful that I live in modern times. I can’t imagine staying warm by a fire of buffalo chips.

Carrie

Michelle Connell

I didn’t get a chance to mention a series with a teacher earlier this week, but I like Mignon Ballard’s series with Miss Dimple which take place prior to and during WWII. This is a cozy mystery series and Miss Dimple is a beloved teacher in the Georgia town she lives in.

Carrie

I enjoy reading about rugged occupations like lumberjacks, cowboys, ranchers, farmers, carpenters, body guards, frontiersmen, Russians (someone should write a book with the Chmerkovskiy brothers, they were actually born in the Ukraine), Alaskans, Mounties, and pretty much any law enforcement or military. I’m going to have to stop or I’ll need my fan!

Carrie

This is a really great topic! I like a variety of occupations, I suppose. I really enjoy contemporary stories centered around food somehow! Whether a chef, baking, restaurant, etc. Favorites include Hillary Manton Lodge’s Two Blue Doors series, Five Days in Skye (ahem, James), Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay, When I Fall in Love by Susan May Warren.

I also love westerns of all types! It sounds like I could endure the ranch life better than you, though I don’t have experience in that way. (I have ridden a horse, though. Haha!)

Carrie

Winnie Thomas

Well Carrie, I have my very own live cowboy teacher! My husband is a retired teacher, and he is also a cowboy–well, he has his own horse and he loves to ride. He even helps his brother take his cattle up the canyon to the summer range in the spring and helps him round them up in the fall! I don’t think he’s ever gathered or used buffalo chips, though. He does have several cowboy hats and boots and even a pair of chaps and spurs (that he hardly ever wears). That said, I’m with you about horses and cattle. I’d rather stay inside and read about them! 😀

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